A National Initiative to Develop Diversity and Inclusion Infrastructure for STEM Innovation

近年来，STEM创业课程、项目和中心的创建迅速增加。NSF i-Corps计划于2012年启动，旨在培训教师和研究生创业和创新。这项计划非常成功，目前正在政府机构中传播。随着社会努力为未来培养一支多样化和创新的STEM劳动力队伍，研究i-Corps如何参与并影响不同社区的成员是至关重要的。只有大约8%的“美国创新者”是美国少数群体的成员(包括亚裔、非裔美国人、西班牙裔、美洲原住民和其他种族)。科学工作者缺乏多样性意味着相当多的人才被排除在创新生态系统之外。这种情况让人不禁要问：“面对创业的这些障碍，我们还会把哪些技术创新留在桌面上？”GEM建议根据研究结果和利用现有的i-Corps网络开发一个为期三年的试点计划，展示和评估在技术创业和商业化方面实现多样性的新方法。拟议的倡议有可能改变I-Corps计划各级的多样性，加强代表不足的少数族裔(URM)SBIR/STTR管道，并最终增加URM STEM企业家的数量。到目前为止，I-Corps的大部分教学是由个人STEM从业者领导的，他们创办了自己的企业或参与了风险投资社区。虽然这些从业者的用意是好的，但他们中的许多人并不了解创业教育方面的研究，也不熟悉构建有效的教学法和包容性教学的方法。取而代之的是，从业者根据自己的经验，将教学努力集中在创建初创公司上。如果没有明智的设计来增强具有不同背景和目标的参与者的体验，i-Corps可能无法促进包容性和多样化的参与，从而限制了现代创业型STEM劳动力的渠道。如果i-Corps寻求促进更具包容性的创业和创新计划，则必须理解URM对i-Corps计划的看法。具体地说，需要在以下方面发现：1)为什么URM社区的成员特别选择不参与i-Corps计划；2)选择参与i-Corps计划的URM社区成员如何看待他们的经历；3)i-Corps教职员工如何看待i-Corps计划中的多样性、公平性和包容性环境。这项研究的结果将帮助i-Corps领导层改进和支持基于证据的创业和创新计划，这些计划鼓励所有人参与。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Recent years have seen a rapid rise in the creation of STEM entrepreneurship curricula, programs, and centers. Launched in 2012, the NSF I-Corps Program seeks to train faculty and graduate students in entrepreneurship and innovation. This program has succeeded masterfully, currently disseminated across government agencies. As society works towards cultivating a diverse and innovative STEM workforce for the future, it is critical to examine how I-Corps engages and influences members of diverse communities. Only about 8% of "U.S. innovators" are members of U.S. minority groups (including Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and other ethnicities). This lack of diversity in the scientific workforce implies that considerable talent is being left out of the innovation eco-system. This situation begs the question, "What technology innovations are we leaving on the table with these barriers to entrepreneurship?" GEM proposes the development of a three-year pilot program based on research findings and utilizing the existing I-Corps Network, that demonstrates and evaluates new approaches to achieving diversity in technology entrepreneurship and commercialization. The proposed initiative has the potential to transform diversity in the I-Corps Program at all levels, enhance the underrepresented minority (URM) SBIR/STTR pipeline, and ultimately increase the number of URM STEM entrepreneurs.To date, most I-Corps instruction is led by individual STEM practitioners who started their own ventures or have been involved in the venture capital community. While well-intentioned, many of these practitioners are unaware of research in entrepreneurship education and are unfamiliar with methods for constructing effective pedagogy and inclusive teaching. Instead, drawing from their own experiences, practitioners focus their instructional efforts on building start-up companies. Without informed design to enhance the experiences of participants with varied backgrounds and goals, I-Corps may not be promoting inclusive and diverse participation, thus restricting the pipeline of the modern entrepreneurial STEM workforce. If I-Corps seeks to promote a more inclusive entrepreneurship and innovation program, URM perceptions of the I-Corps Program must be understood. Specifically, discovery is needed on 1) why members of the URM community have specifically chosen to not to engage with the I-Corps program; 2) how members of the URM community who have chosen to engage with I-Corps program perceive their experience; 3) how I-Corps faculty perceive I-Corps programming with respect to the diversity, equity, and inclusion climate. Results from this research will help I-Corps leadership refine and support evidence-based entrepreneurship and innovation programs that encourage inclusive engagement for all.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.